Where the Truth Begins and the Lies End?
by The-Slayer-And-Key-Of-Dagon
Summary: It started with that one damn text message. He could have ignored it and gone on with his day. He wouldn't have grabbed that file. He wouldn't have skipped his job interview in New York. He wouldn't have continued on with the research for his novel. However, Ezra didn't do that, and here he was was, doing -A's dirty work... Takes Place: Season 1. Ezra centric. Mild Ezria.


_Want to know the dirty secrets that your girlfriend is keeping for that mystery novel of yours? Meet at the river on the outskirts of Rosewood in twenty minutes. Tell no one. - A_

Ezra had to read the message three times before being positive that it was real. He didn't know much about -A except that Aria was affiliated with the person. Aria claimed that they were not a friend, but he wasn't quiet sure about that when she had first told him. However, it started to seem like this person was manipulative. He should have probably called Aria and told her about the ordeal, but he would have to explain why -A was wanting to give him information for a novel. No. That was not an option. So, that is how he ended up in a bush by the river with five minutes to spare. He was becoming very worried at this point and was contemplating on leaving. However, he heard shouting from the distance.

He looked to his right and saw Aria, Spencer, and Hanna trampling through the woods. The blonde girl was holding a file filed with papers in her hands.

"Can we at least talk about this?" Aria pleaded desperately. Ezra started to wonder what was going on, so he slipped behind at a far enough distance to hear but not be seen.

"No." Hanna told her with annoyance. "I don't want this in my house. And I don't want it in my locker."

"I will mail it to the police!" Spencer shouted with her arms over her chest.

'_Police? What the hell was in that file?_' Ezra thought to himself. He crept up a little closer, so he could get a good view of the fight.

"No. It's not going to happen." Hanna stated firmly while stepping over a dead tree branch. "I'm not having this traced back to me."

"How are they going to trace it back to you. I'm the one licking the envelope." Spencer argued against her friend's logic.

"And I'm the one who works in that building!"

"Hanna-" Aria tried to interject.

"I'm the one who always gets caught." Hanna rambled on as the girls continued walking farther and farther into the woods.

"Hanna! Spencer, right!" Aria shouted more firmly this time. "Burning the folder out here is a bad idea if the police could use it to build a case against Toby."

"He had a motive to kill Alison!" Spencer added.

'_Toby could be the murderer?_' Ezra wondered and started planning on how to find out his motive. One things for sure, he definitely doesn't regret the trip.

"And they can also prove that I broke into a shrink's office." Hanna stopped walking and turned around to face the two other girls, which allowed Ezra to catch his breath from walking so fast to keep up with them. "I really can't afford to take anymore field trips to the precinct, and I'm pretty sure after three strikes you're signed to the prisonward."

"Okay Hanna, what strikes?" Ezra could see Aria's confused features. "You were just trying to save your friend."

"Look, I have already got busted for stealing sunglasses and my boyfriend's car."

"What you steal sunglasses? From who?" Spencer shockingly looked at her.

"Not from a person. From a store. God, I have some class." Hanna explained and rolled her eyes.

"Are you talking about those... the Gucci ones with the gold rim-" Aria veered off topic for a moment, but Spencer interrupted her train of thought.

"Focus! Hey Hanna! This is not about petty theft! Toby could be the killer! We can't keep making these same mistakes over and over again!" Spencer yelled at her.

"We-"

"Yes. We okay!" Spencer snatched the file from Hanna's hand. "We are all in this together. We are all being stalked by -A. And if he's run off-"

That immediately sparked Ezra interest. The girls were getting stalked by -A, who they assumed was Toby. This worried him. He now realized that Aria wasn't lying to him when she said -A wasn't a friend. However, why would Toby lead him out here and reveal that to him? It didn't make sense.

"Okay. We don't know if he's -A." Aria reasoned.

"Please! Have you gotten one single text since last night?" Spencer asked in a condescending tone. "Okay, the devil has a name and it's Toby."

Hanna took this chance to snatch the file from Spencer's grasp. She took off towards the river.

"Why are you being so pick-headed?" Spencer shouted angrily.

"Why? Because I don't have a big fat safety net to catch me. Not all of us have big shot daddy's to write a check to make the boogie man go away."

"What are you talking about?" Spencer asked in a soft tone. Once again, she took the file from her friend.

"Spencer, you get I get caught stealing an essay and your parents let you take a picture for the newspaper. I get caught stealing an accessory and I have to lag around medical waste." Hanna bitterly told her.

Ezra could tell that Aria was fed up. She grabbed the file from Spencer and tossed it in the river. Papers flew everywhere and landed in the cool water. Ezra practically felt his heart leap out of his chest. Those papers could have helped him with his research.

"There it's done! Okay!" Aria exclaimed. "We never saw it and don't even know it exists. Can we leave now please?"

Ezra scooted back deeper into the woods when the girls headed back up the trail. He saw Aria reach into her back pocket and grab her phone. Her face morphed into horror.

"Guys. I think we screwed shit up badly." Aria gulped and handed her phone to Spencer. Ezra leaned in a little closer to see what was happening. He saw the tall brunette's eyes flare.

"I told you we shouldn't have trashed it!" Spencer glared at Hanna, who was giving the same intense stare.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hanna seethed. Spencer tossed the phone in the blonde's hands and waited for a reaction.

"We need to go over to Emily's now and figure this out." Hanna told the other girls, and all three of them started back towards the vehicle.

Ezra waited for the sound of tires against dirt before coming from his hiding spot. He hesitated for a second before going to the bay and collecting the wet smeared papers from the file.

* * *

Shocked. It was the only word that could verbalize his emotions. The file he retrieved earlier today had giving him a few leads on who killed Alison. It turned out that Toby was in a relationship with his step-sister Jenna. From what Ezra can piece together from knowledge and assumptions, Alison must have blackmailed him with it.

Ezra sighed and looked at his clock. It read 2:30. He had a job interview in New York and need to be leaving up in four hours. The reason he took the job interview was because he didn't want to write the book anymore. All he was coming up with was dead ends, and a part of him was feeling disgusting for his relationship with Aria. He was beginning to actually care about her, and that wasn't acceptable. He couldn't let himself fall for her when everything about them was wrong. However, he was now had something to work with for the book, and he now realized that Aria and her friends knew more about Alison's murder than he did.

Ezra groaned and decided to bail on the job interview. Maybe he could skip town and go visit some of his family. Maybe he could even try to find information on Jenna and Toby.

He thought about -A. This person knew things that he didn't. Whoever the person was, they could have provided tons of insider information, but he wasn't sure he should go down that route. It was clear to him that -A was more serious than he previously believed.

He couldn't dwell on this thought because the sound of his phone buzzing interrupted him. He grabbed it off his nightstand and opened it. His mouth fell agape as he read the latest message.

_Want more 411? Go to Brookhaven at 11:00. There's an old doll shop on one of the corners. Ask for a pick up under the name Vivian Darkbloom. -A_

* * *

**Author Note: There it is! Okay, if you don't already know, this story take place in season 1. This chapter was in episode 7. I hope you peeps enjoyed it. I hope there aren't to many errors. I proofread over it a few times but what can you do? Review. Favorite. Follow. Whatever...**


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